You have been such a skilful, devoted and unselfish player in the production. Thank you so much for all your tireless work with the children, who have blossomed with your help and care.
Many thanks, and much love.
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In recent years Celia Bannerman has worked as Children’s Acting Coach on; Barnado’s Believe in Me (2019) directed by Sam Brown, Jim Button (2018) directed by Dennis Gansel and Our Kind of Traitor (2016), novel by John le Carré directed by Susannah White. As well as on J. A. Bayona’s film The Impossible (2010) and Nanny Mcphee Returns (2010) also directed by Susannah White.
She worked as the Children’s Acting Coach during the casting and filming of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008), on Lark Rise to Candleford (2008) for the BBC as well as on the pre-production of Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008). She was in South Africa working with children on The Three Investigators (2007) whilst also helping the casting and preproduction with children for the films The Holiday (2006) and Where the Wild Things Are (2009).
Celia was employed by Warner Bros as an Acting Coach on the casting of Harry Potter, and on the Disney film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (2005), which was directed by Andrew Adamson of Shrek fame. In the same year she was Dialect and Acting Coach on the film The Virgin Territory in Italy directed and adapted by David Leland and produced by Dino De Laurentis. Celia worked with Hayden Christensen, Mathew Rees, Mischa Barton and Kate Groombridge during filming.
In 2004 Celia worked on the casting and filming of Nanny McPhee. The film was written by and stars Emma Thompson, with Colin Firth, Angela Lansbury and seven children, most of whom had not acted professionally before. Nanny McPhee was directed by Kirk Jones and produced by Eric Felner and Lindsay Doran for Working Title and Universal Pictures.
During 2003, Bannerman worked as Dialogue Coach for five months in Cambodia, Thailand, and France on the film Two Brothers (2004). The Pathe Film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and produced by Jake Eberts starred Guy Pearce, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Freddie Highmore and 28 tigers.
She worked with Jean-Jacques Annaud for five months in Argentina on Seven Years in Tibet (1997) as the Acting Coach. Her main job was to “pre-cook” for Jean-Jacques the young boy Jamyang, who played the Dalai Lama and who had not acted before. This was a big debut role for Jamyang as his co-star was Brad Pitt. Celia also worked with the Tibetan cast, again, none of whom who had acted before or indeed spoke English. Richard Goodwin produced the film and got her on board in the first place. In no way did she direct the cast. She made sure they knew their lines, helped them with any research, and practiced the scenes so that when they got on set they could take direction, be confident and not freeze. Because of the coaching from Bannerman the actors were able to take off in any way Jean-Jacques fancied.
Celia assisted director Christine Edzard cast and set up her first big feature film Little Dorrit (1987) working with the children who played Little Dorrit at different ages. The film was nominated for Oscars and won the L.A. Critics Award for Best Film. Little Dorrit was produced by Lord Braybourne and Richard Goodwin.
Recently Celia played Phoebe in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of As You Like It (2023) at Stratford-upon-Avon.
She has starred in the West End of London and The Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as in the television series Upstairs Downstairs and Pride and Prejudice.
Her films include The Tamarind Seed (1974), Biddy (1983) for which she received The Moscow Film Festival Award for Acting, Little Dorrit (1987), As You Like It (1992), and The Land Girls (1998).
Celia has directed as Associate Director at the Bristol Old Vic and Stratford East and as Staff Director at the Royal National Theatre, becoming the first woman to direct a play there. She was also Staff Director on the TV alternative soap Brookside (1982).
Celia has taught and directed at Drama Schools including RADA, The Drama Centre, Mountview, ALRA, Guildford and more recently teaching Acting for Camera.
You have been such a skilful, devoted and unselfish player in the production. Thank you so much for all your tireless work with the children, who have blossomed with your help and care.
Many thanks, and much love.
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I wanted to let you know that both Kirk and I continue to wonder at the performance of those children. No matter how often I see the movie, I’m amazed by their attentiveness, their stillness and their ability to stay in character even when the scene isn’t about them. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to you for all the work you did with the children. Every minute of it shows up on screen.
Thank you again, Love, Lindsay
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Just a quickie to say one more thank you for the truly terrific job you did with the kids on Pyjamas – all of whom are coming across really well in the cut so far. So rare for somebody to be so good at their job and be such a pleasure to work with!
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I do hope to work with you again. You did a marvellous job with Jamyang. The attention, awards and great notices he achieved all came from his good nature… and your exceptional work.
Lots of affection, JJ.
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As I sit in the cutting room looking at take after take… there is one consistency and that is that every child knows and understands their lines and delivers them well. Sometimes better than others for a million reasons is life but of the things I had on my mind each and every day I did not have to worry about them not knowing, understanding or over rehearsing their lines. I don’t remember thanking you sufficiently before we all moved on and wanted to do so now. All of the concerns I had about attempting such an intense period of filming with children simply disappeared as soon as you started on the film.
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The expert assistance of Celia B was invaluable. Without her to develop the ideas and characters discovered in rehearsal and on set, we would never have ended up with such fully rounded performances. Children need a lot of reminding and Celia kept them on track at all times. She gave me a few good tips as well.
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